Tau Redefines Power Electronics to Accelerate Electrification and Smart Energy Applications

Unveiled at CES 2026, Tau's software-defined power electronics platform enables high-efficiency, scalable, and reconfigurable systems for electric infrastructure and energy services.

LAS VEGAS and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Tau, a pioneer in advanced electrification, unveiled Ion™, its software-defined power electronic platform, at CES 2026. Designed for broad applicability and scale across mobility, energy, industrial systems, and the grid, Ion enables high-performance power conversion solutions that are being leveraged for charging systems, motor drives, data centers, and distributed energy applications.

Ion introduces a modular, multi-layer architecture that tightly integrates advanced hardware with firmware and scalable software libraries. This platform approach allows developers and partners to deploy power converters with greater flexibility while achieving lower system cost, higher performance, and faster time to market compared to traditional, application-specific designs.

"Power converters are fundamental to how energy moves around the world, and Ion reinvents how they are built and deployed," said Wesley Pennington, Founder and CEO of Tau. "Developing conventional power electronics requires significant capital investment and highly specialized expertise, while off-the-shelf solutions force compromises in efficiency, cost, and packaging. Ion delivers a modular, software-defined alternative that enables rapid, cost-effective deployment of highly efficient power systems—accelerating electrification and the deployment of new energy resources across industries."

Tau has demonstrated that Ion-based converters can achieve efficiencies exceeding 99%, deliver meaningful system-level performance gains, and reduce overall converter size and cost. These advantages are realized by addressing key power-electronics challenges directly within standardized building blocks.

"Each Ion module abstracts the underlying power electronics hardware, integrating optimized circuitry, low-level controls, filtering, protection, and waveform generation through tightly coupled hardware and firmware," said Matthias Preindl, Chief Scientist of Tau. "Modules are networked, or interconnected, via a real-time communications layer that enables coordinated control, protection, and diagnostics across the system. At the highest level, applications are defined through software control sets and common libraries, requiring only application-specific functionality to be added and validated, significantly reduces development time, cost, and risk."

Publicly unveiled at CES 2026, Ion systems can dynamically reconfigure to bring individual modules on- and off-line to create adaptable, shared power resources. Example use cases include N-in-1 architectures for automotive platforms and reconfigurable, self-healing microgrids for smart energy and infrastructure applications.

Tau is actively partnering with customers across multiple industries to develop and deploy solutions on the Ion platform, accelerating electrification and the integration of next-generation energy resources.

Key Benefits of the Ion™ Platform

• Cross-Industry Applicability
  A single platform supports a range of applications anywhere power conversion is required, including charging systems, motor drives, data centers, solar, distributed energy resources, grid-connected infrastructure, and beyond.
• Software-Defined Architecture
  Decouples application functionality from hardware, enabling new power converter use cases to be deployed and updated through software rather than hardware redesign.
• Modular, Scalable Building Blocks
  Standardized Ion modules can be combined, reconfigured, or dynamically brought on- and off-line to support a wide range of power levels and system architectures.
• Industry-Defining Converter Efficiency
  Demonstrated efficiencies exceeding 98-99%, delivering reduced losses (even under partial loads), improved thermal performance, and lower operating costs.
• Lower System Cost
  Addresses key power electronics challenges at the module level, reducing BOM complexity, engineering effort, and validation cost at the system level.
• Enhanced System Designs
  Ion's advanced waveform generation reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) while improving system-level efficiency by significantly reducing high-frequency switching losses in motor and motion-control applications.
• Faster Time to Market
  Common hardware and software libraries minimize application-specific development and validation, accelerating deployment across programs and industries.
• System-Level Intelligence & Resilience
  Real-time networking, coordinated control, and built-in diagnostics enable fault tolerance, protection, and self-healing capabilities in complex systems.

About Tau
Tau Motors, Inc. is an advanced technology company redefining the future of electrification. From electric vehicles to the grid and beyond, Tau enables next-generation products – today.  Tau has pioneered technologies that leverage the company's software-defined hardware platform to provide industry leading scale, economics, and performance. By combining deep expertise in power conversion, systems engineering, and advanced control, Tau is accelerating flexible, secure, and sustainable energy systems across industries. As a technology company, Tau partners with industry leaders to develop and deploy transformative solutions on the company's platform. At its core, Tau is made of exceptionally talented people – and we are growing. Come join our mission. For more information, visit taumotors.com.

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SOURCE Tau Motors, Inc.